Officials, advocates call for action on domestic violence

BOSTON -- Faced with new federal cuts to anti-violence programs, advocates and local legislators gathered at the Statehouse on Thursday to discuss ways to reduce domestic abuse in the state.

"We need to change the fact that this violence is happening in the first place," former state Sen. Jarrett Barrios told those attending the annual White Ribbon Day, which encourages men to take a stand against violence against women.

Barrios, CEO of the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts and a co-chair of the White Ribbon Campaign with Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley, said the best way to stop domestic violence was to change attitudes.

"We, as men, need to change the equation by changing our attitudes," he said.

Changing those attitudes may become harder. Massachusetts domestic-violence programs took a hit when $140,000 in sequestration cuts took effect, and with stagnant state funding promised under Gov. Deval Patrick's budget proposal, advocates are turning more to prevention measures.

Nationally, the U.S. Department of Justice estimates the sequestration cut $20 million from treatment and prevention programs funded by the national Violence Against Women Act, which President Barack Obama signed Thursday. The governor's budget proposal would give $5.5 million to domestic violence programs -- the same as last year.

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Chris Klaskin, legislative affairs coordinator for the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, said that funding is "really scary," especially with federal budget cuts from sequestration.

"It's an ongoing battle to not just maintain but also expand our program offerings," said Klaskin.

Eighteen percent of women in the United States have been raped or experienced attempted rape, according to the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And according to the Department of Justice, that number has stayed the same over the last five years.

Isa Woldeguiorguis, executive director of the Center for Hope and Healing, a Lowell-based rape-crisis center that receives grant money from the victim assistance office, said the center's 24-hour sexual assault hot line receives about 300 calls each year from Greater Lowell. But she said the number does not reflect the scope of the problem.

"The hot line is a precursor to face-to-face help," Woldeguiorguis said. "There is so much shame and stigma around rape that it is hard to get to the point of calling."

Anti-domestic-violence programs such as the Center for Hope and Healing are mostly funded with state money along with some support from individual and business donors. Woldeguiorguis and other advocates said limited funding forces them to spend limited resources on helping domestic-violence victims rather than getting at the root cause of the problem.

However, advocates said prevention is becoming a more important component of domestic-abuse programs. More than 100 advocates asked men to take an active role in opposing violence against women at White Ribbon Day, an annual Statehouse event highlighting the need for funding and support of minority victims of domestic violence.

Woldeguiorguis supports the White Ribbon initiative because it tackles the issue in a new way.

"Men can reach other men and boys with norm-changing messages about respect and healthy masculinity," she said. "And men can reach men in ways that women can't."

Craig Norberg-Bohm, coordinator of the men's initiative for Jane Doe Inc., said men should embrace their "masculine pride" by modeling healthy relationships and speaking out about injustices against women.

Nicolas Formaggia, a domestic-violence advocate at the Leominster-based Spanish American Center, said working to change cultural norms about masculinity and women's roles in immigrant communities is a concern.

"The macho perception is so built into the Latino community, along with permissiveness (among women)," Formaggia said at the event.

The Spanish American Center works primarily with Spanish-speaking and immigrant communities, which is uncommon with domestic-abuse programs, said Paulo Pinto, executive director for the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, which has a domestic-violence program.

Programs that offer services to specific ethnic communities may not be the norm, but that does not mean they are not necessary.

"For people who don't speak the language, or don't have an understanding of cultural norms in their new community, or they don't understand the legal issues, those become additional barriers," he said.

In Leominster, 23 percent of people speak a language other than English at home, and 14 percent are foreign-born, according to census data.

Pinto said it often takes immigrant women longer to come forward about their abuse, because sexual assault is more shameful in some cultures. Pinto said women are often afraid that their abuser, who could be their husband or sole provider, might get deported.

The Cambridge-based organization has about 300 active domestic-violence cases, and Pinto said he has seen about a half-dozen perpetrators be deported over the last year.

Most of the organization's work cannot prevent domestic abuse, but Pinto said they still promote safety for women.

"We want to help the women by empowering the women to know the resources they have." Pinto said.

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